Fishers High School

The Fishers Tigers hosted the Westfield Shamrocks in an IHSAA Regional, but the back-and-forth battle ultimately went to the Shamrocks by a score of 42-28 in a great game. The Shamrocks jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead, but a great 3rd quarter allowed the Tigers to tie the game going into the 4th quarter. The Shamrocks ground game proved to be too much as they pulled away in the 4th quarter. Ryan Thembulembu scored twice on the ground for the Tigers, and Caden Hill threw for 249 yards and a touchdown to Vincent Rozzi to go along with 115 receiving yards from JonAnthony Hall. The Tigers received the opening kickoff and gained enough yards but were forced to punt before they get deep into Westfield territory. The Shamrocks were able to drive down the field and convert four 3rd downs – the final conversion being a 28-yard touchdown pass from Carsen Melvin to Deacon King. Fishers got the ball back and was driving as the clock expired to end the first quarter. A great catch by JonAnthony Hall got the Tigers into the red zone and keep the drive going. Caden Hill ran a QB keeper around the right side on 3rd down for a 5-yard touchdown to tie the score. The energy was short-lived as Cato June took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to give the Shamrocks the lead right back. After another Tigers punt, Westfield gained yards on the ground before Melvin finished with 6-yard run to stretch the lead to 21-7 in favor of the Shamrocks. The teams traded punts, and the Tigers got the ball back with just under a minute to go. After getting the ball across midfield, Fishers ran a hook and lateral play, but Hall was tackled to end the 1st half. The 3rd quarter was all about Fishers as the defense forced two stops and the offense scored twice to even up the score going into the 4th quarter. After a punt, the Tigers started on their own 10 and got across midfield. On 4th down, a tipped passed was corralled by Hall to keep the drive going. Thembulembu eventually finished with a 1-yard touchdown. Westfield got to midfield on their possession but great tackles by Nathan Ash on 3rd down and Emmanuel Cowherd on 4th down to force a turnover on downs. Fishers again drove down with the same result – this time from 4 yard out. Westfield got the ball back and was able to drive down the field including converting on a 3rd and 8 to get into the red zone. Melvin found Beau Braun for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Shamrocks a 28-21 lead with just under 9 minutes to play. Fishers got the ball back but on 4th down, the pass was just short and turned it over on downs. The Tigers defense stepped up and forced a 4th down attempt, but Melvin was able to convert on the QB keeper. Melvin also finished the drive with a 14-yard drive as he faked the pitch but kept it himself. With just over 2 minutes to play, Fishers executed a great two-minute drill including a 4th down conversion catch by Hall. When the Tigers got into the red zone, Hill’s pass was tipped by Hall over his head to a waiting Vincent Rozzi in the back of the end zone to get the score 35-28 in favor of the Shamrocks. Westfield was able to recover the onside kick with just over 1 minute to go. As the Tigers defense packed in to stop the run and use their timeouts, King was able to squeeze through the left side for a 49-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14 points for the Shamrocks. The Tigers ultimately turned the ball over on downs and Westfield was able to take a knee to secure the 42-28 victory and the regional championship.